Category / PJ Others

We don’t always go to Kota Damansara thanks mostly to the fact that traffic is quite horrendous due to the on-going MRT construction, but when WeiZhi & Lex asked that we join them for a steamboat lunch review at Gourmet Definition Steamboat, we immediately agreed.

Gourmet Definition Steamboat at Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara

The reason is two fold – the two fellas behind KBCG are good friends, and secondly, the photos from what I can find about Gourmet Definition Steamboat looked mighty promising.

we tried both the spicy and signature golden soup

Located at the main strip of Sunway Giza, Gourmet Definition has quite a “fresh” and new look to it that’s unlike any other steamboat places in town. The restaurant manager and part owner explained to us that great expense and thought was put into the planning and renovation stage of the restaurant, to ensure a comfortable dining experience, and most of all, top notch cleanliness standard.

I felt that they definitely achieved these goals with white marble tables, good air conditioning, and above all, prompt service (they even change your plates from time to time).

the deluxe set menu A for 4 pax at Gourmet Definition

We were served the Deluxe Set Menu A for the four of us (RM 238 promo, usual RM 328), and it came with the following items:

There are only two items we tried here that’s not in the set menu – the HUGE imported fresh oyster, and the extra flavor of soup (the spicy one). Everything else is as listed above.

the fresh oyster was absolutely delicious, and huge!

But enough with the listing of ingredients, the important question is, are they any good?

The answer is a resounding yes. Fresh ingredients with pork bone infused herbal soup base, it is actually not easy to go wrong here.

My favorites were the iberico pork slices, those red roe in the river prawn’s head, the homemade fish balls, and also most definitely those huge oysters. Those chicken wings too were pretty spot on as well.

Haze, Weizhi, Lex, & KY

Prices at Gourmet Definition is on the higher side, but the ingredients, service, and dining experience more than equal what you’ll see on the bill. If you’re up for some top notch steamboat, this place should be on your radar screen.

If you were to tell me 10 years ago that salad can make a healthy, hearty, and really delicious meal, I’d only believe you 1/3. After all, salad are for girls who wants to look demure and polite having meal in public, right?

Well, Chai Bar proved me wrong.

Chai Bar at Oasis Square, Ara Damansara

One of the Chai Bar’s co-owner, Dennis, is a close friend of Haze. So to be honest, we’ve heard of the concept and already been to the pre-tasting events before the restaurant was even opened.

It was a concept that isn’t completely new, salad bars such as these are already quite popular in Singapore and other countries.

salad isn’t just lettuce with thousand island sauce

The concept is simple, choose from some 70 different ingredients such as freshly washed and cut vegetables to beans, cheeses, nuts, pickles, and roasted vegetables. Plus, you also get to add smoked salmon, shrimp, poached chicken or grilled beef (just in case you think salad is only all about greens). To complete the meal, pick from some 15 different dressings.

Voila, you have yourself an awesome healthy meal.

chicken rice, superfood, steakhouse, sombrero

For the review session we tried 7 different salads with some from their “fab 10” selections, basically ten different mixes of salad for those who doesn’t want to scratch their heads choosing your own combination from 70 different ingredients. These salads are priced from RM 16-20, a very good value for what you get in my opinion.

Chicken rice came with spinach, red rice, onions, cucumber, bean sprouts & poached chicken and dressed with Sesame Soy. Here the chicken is cooked sous vide so even though it’s breast meat (my least favorite but healthiest option), it was still very juicy and rather delicious.

Steakhouse is a salad for the men, I mean, steak, kan? Baby spinach with baby potatoes, tomato, caramelised onions & grilled beef. I like the dressing in this one – blue cheese! If you’re not a fan of blue cheese, you can always opt for another dressing.

According to Dennis, California Girls is one of the most popular salads with the ladies. A bowl that’s inspired by Japanese cuisine, with mixed lettuce, red rice, avocado, carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, hard boiled egg, pickled seaweed & kaori-hako. Wasabi Mayo. Dusted with roasted seaweed and ebiko. I thought the ebiko was a really nice touch.

refreshing drinks at Chai Bar

Juices goes for RM 7.50 and smoothies RM 8.50. We had kaffir lemonade, watermelon & mint, and of course I went for avocado. They complements the food well, and I think make for good afternoon “snacks” on their own too.

KY, Haze, Dennis (co-owner), Cheesie & Junya

Chai Bar is really a trailblazer for salad in this side of Klang Valley, I really hope they thrive and open up more restaurants, and hopefully one near my workplace. Good job Dennis!

Sometimes all you need is some simple comfort food, and for me, sometimes that comes in the form of a bowl of good bitter gourd noodle soup.

While running around trying to sort of stuff for our new home and somehow missed lunch in the process, I found myself at around Ara Damansara, and recalled that someone mentioned once about a stall at Restoran Do Re Mi 123 that offers bitter gourd soup, so I took the turn to investigate.

Do Re Mi 123 kopitiam at Ara Damansara

Restoran Do Re Mi 123 is a medium size kopitiam located at the “busiest” commercial centre in Ara Damansara on an island surrounded by major roads going in and out of the residential area. Parking is usually not too challenging, and the restaurant offers quite a selection of different hawker fair that any KL folks will be familiar with.

For RM 5 you get a bowl of soup with your choice of noodle (I choose mee suah) laden with reasonable amount of pork slices, fish cake, bitter gourd, and even tomato. It was quite well balanced and not overly salty. Another RM 1 gets you an egg just to make it closer to a balanced meal.

I picked up mountain biking lately, which turned into a wonderful hobby that involves a lot of calorie burning that enables even more calorie intake right after every weekend session in the trails, and it was one of these sessions that brought us to this relatively new restaurant at Aman Suria area – Kah Foong Pork Shoppe

Kah Foong pork shopped at Aman Suria (Sunway Mas Commercial Centre)

To be honest, the only reason we ended up at the place was due to the fact that Famous Seremban Favorites, the restaurant that serves one of the best charsiu in town, was far too packed, and Kah Foong happened to be located just a few shops down.

The menu promises pork, so if we can’t have charsiu, why not some other type of pork, right?

As it turned out, the decision was a wise one.

slices of pork soft bone on thick mee suah, delicious

The menu at Kah Foong is pretty simple, with about half a dozen different types of noodle and rice dishes to choose from. Most of them involves either soft bone, slice squid, pork ball, minced pork, pork belly, or a combination of those ingredients.

I tried the soft bone with slice squid (RM 7) and was delighted at how awesome both the ingredients were. The pork with tendon that melts in you rmouth, and the squid slices so packed with seafood sweetness we ended up ordering a few more portions on the side. I was impartial with those thick meesuah (personal preference) but I believe thinner version is available as well.

there’s dry version too, and we loved the squid slices

Pork ball here did not disappoint either, and the friends who ordered mushroom minced pork mee (RM 7) gave the dish a favorable review as well.

Additionally, Kah Foong also sell other pork products that you can take home to your own kitchen. I have a feeling that this shop will certainly stay, the food is pretty good, the price is right, and if they can only speed up their service just a little, we’ll have a long term winner.

One of the more popular thing to do for many restaurant owners is to name their restaurant with the place the business is conducted from. After all, it is convenient for anyone to remember, and also make it sounds a lot more legitimate.

That is, until you expand to another location. One of such example is the confusingly named Peel Road Yong Tau Foo located at Sungai Way, our subject of this entry.

Update 21/11/2014: unfortunately this place has already changed to a “tai chao” operation and no longer serve yong tau foo

Restaurant Peel Road Yong Tow Foo at Sungai Way

We actually stumbled upon this place as Sing Kee was closed when we wanted to go for their asam fish a couple weeks ago. Since this shack/restaurant seems to be offering more than just yong tau foo, we thought why not?

As it turns out, the place is more of a tai chau restaurant that happen to offer yong tau foo.

True to the name, the YTF here were actually rather good, with the fuchuk particularly tasty. The tofu, chili, bitter gourd, brinjal and such did not disappoint either. The stuffing is a little heavy but we liked it nonetheless.

steamed egg, vegetable, curry fish head, bitter gourd chicken

For the six of us, we ordered another four dishes to go with rice for everyone.

The steamed egg was smooth n silky with a hint of sesame oil, reminding me of the version we had at K.T.L. Cheras. The vegetable more than passable, in addition to ticking off the vitamin C requirement in every meal.

The third dish, bitter gourd chicken, was also pretty decent, though not exactly the best version I’ve tried.

the curry fish head was really good

However, the curry fish head here turned out to be superb. We asked for grouper head which isn’t very commonly available in Klang Valley, but in my opinion, the best candidate for curry fish head. The version here has a thick flavorful gravy and packed with extra vegetables that adds to the overall experience. If I had to order only one dish from here, this would be it.

Over all this branch of Peel Road YTF at Sungai Way makes for a more than decent dinner option. We ended up paying around RM 15 or so per person.